by Ben Catley

First, 17 days until pitchers and catchers report, 24 days before players report. However, there are a number of former Osprey who have reported early to Arizona, for one reason or another, to get ready for Spring Training.

Ahh, the excitement of pitchers and catchers reporting for Spring Training … it’s like, when you were a kid, the buildup to Christmas in a way for baseball fans, where everyone is feeling good about their teams, hoping for the best of successes in the upcoming year.

And, if you’re on the arbitration list, it can get even more, uh, interesting. However, the suspense of it all went away for former Osprey catcher Miguel Montero (2002-03), who agreed to a deal right before his arbitration hearing. Literally, right before the hearing.

It’s been quite a 12-month span for Montero, who made his first All-Star squad while having a big season – leading National League catchers in doubles (36), RBIs (84) and slugging percentage (.471) and was second in home runs (18) and on-base plus slugging (.821).

For the D-backs, they have had just two arbitration hearings in franchise history, and (at the moment) none since 2001. That is an achievement in itself.

– OK, because this blog has been known to have a “Goldy” fix … and, believe me, if you knew Paul Goldschmidt like we do, you would understand why we like talking about him … here is today’s entry. Imagine Upton/Goldy as your slugging ticket for the D-backs this season.

– Don’t know if I posted this before or not, but here’s a feature on former Osprey starting pitcher Robby Rowland.

– The 2011 D-backs first-round pick, and former Osprey pitcher, Archie Bradley, did pretty well for himself during Instructional League this past fall. No wonder he’s high on the prospect lists.

I will also pass along this little nugget on Spring Training – and it’s non-Osprey related. Someone older than yours truly has a non-roster invite to a Major League camp. Omar Visquel, who turns 45 in April (less than a month before me), will head to Florida and try to earn a spot on the Toronto Blue Jays roster. Amazing.